As is known in the art, organizations such as the military, the Department of Homeland Security, and other agencies may utilize unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for border security, fish and widelife protection, underwater and surface protection, maritime search and rescue, weather sensing application, etc. In a military context, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) operations may use UAV to link several battlefield functions together and to assist in the collection of battlefield information.
Many existing UAV, although quite useful, have certain design and operational disadvantages. For example, some UAV such as air balloons have long flight endurance, but are difficult to rapidly deploy and may be relatively large and slow-moving, making them relatively easy targets for enemy forces. Other UAV can be rapidly deployed and are relatively small, but their flight endurance is extremely limited. Still other UAV offer long flight endurance, large payload capacity, and high altitude capability, but are relatively expensive and difficult to operate and maintain. For example, the Global Hawk, developed by the Northrop Grumman, Corp. of Los Angeles, Calif., offers 36 hours of in-flight endurance, payloads of nearly 2,000 lbs., and a maximum altitude of 65,000 feet. However, the Global Hawk is known to be expensive to manufacture and maintain and requires complex operational support.